This is the project people wish they had thought about first. Panels are mounted through the roof covering and are expected to sit there for a long stretch. If the covering underneath has only a few years left, you are eventually paying somebody to remove the array, store it, reroof, and put it all back. That removal and reinstall is real labor with real cost, and it is entirely avoidable by looking at the roof honestly before anything gets attached to it.
The other reason to sequence the two together is that the same penetrations get done once, by people who know the array is going up. Flashing details, mount placement, and layout can be planned against the new covering instead of worked around an old one. If a roofer and a solar crew are going to touch the same surface, it is worth knowing who is responsible for what, in writing, before either one starts.
Two projects, two sets of cost drivers, and no useful average between them. On the roof side: square footage, pitch, how many layers have to come off, how cut up the roof is with valleys and dormers, the covering material you choose, and whatever the decking turns out to need once it is exposed. On the solar side: array size driven by your annual usage, how many roof faces the panels are split across, and the condition and capacity of your electrical service. A detached structure can add trenching. Ask for the two scopes priced separately so you can see what each trade is charging for, then compare across companies.
You can, and people do. The cost is that reroofing under an existing array means paying to remove the panels, store them, and reinstall them, plus redoing the mounts and flashing. If the covering has years of life left, that is a distant problem. If it does not, you are choosing to spend money later to avoid a conversation now.
Sometimes. Some solar installers have roofing crews or a roofing partner, and some roofers subcontract the solar side. Either arrangement can work. What matters is that one party owns the schedule and that responsibility for leaks at the mounts is written down clearly rather than left to sort out between two companies afterward.
Get someone on the roof rather than relying on a photo or a satellite view. Age, covering condition, prior repairs, and what the decking looks like all factor in. If a solar salesperson is the only person telling you the roof is fine, get a roofing opinion separately. The two answers coming from different sources is worth something.
It can. Covering material affects how mounts attach and how flashing is detailed, and a reroof is also the moment to fix layout problems like awkward vent placement. Design the array against the finished roof, not the current one, and ask the installer to confirm the layout after the covering is chosen.
The standard project: panels on your existing roof, an inverter tied into your electrical service, a permit from your city, and an interconnection application with your utility. Sizing starts with a year of your real usage and how much unshaded roof faces the right direction.
Learn more →A battery is a separate decision from panels, not an automatic add-on. It mainly addresses outages and shifting when you draw power. Whether it earns its place depends on your utility rules and on what you actually want running when the lights go out.
Learn more →Production dropped, an inverter is throwing a fault, monitoring went dark, or the company that sold you the system no longer exists. Somebody still has to diagnose it. We can point you to installers who take service work on other people's arrays.
Learn more →Roof work under an existing array means panels come off and go back on, with mounts and flashing redone properly. It is its own job with its own scheduling, and it needs to be coordinated with whoever is handling the roof itself.
Learn more →A few details about your home is enough to start. Or call 801-644-9000 and skip the form.